AI SCIENCE
Pick your timeline
Researchers are testing whether AI avatars can help people make better life choices by showing them possible versions of their future.
The idea is simple: people who feel connected to their future selves are more likely to make decisions that help them later, such as saving money or planning ahead.
MIT researchers created older AI versions of nearly 200 people facing difficult choices.
Some spoke to one future self, while others spoke to several versions who had followed different career paths.
Here’s what you should know:
AI avatars could make future goals feel more real.
They may help people see new options.
Researchers are still testing whether the advice is genuinely useful.
Pick a future, any future
People shown three possible futures chose a new AI-suggested option 20% of the time. That fell below 3% for those who only imagined their future.
Supporters say AI could help people discover options they had not considered. Critics warn that new ideas can feel exciting simply because they are unfamiliar.
Other researchers are building chatbots that focus less on giving answers and more on helping people understand their values and choices.
There are still concerns. AI advice can reflect bias, give unrealistic suggestions or treat people differently based on income.
Nothing says “trust the process” like taking career advice from yourself with wrinkles.- MG